The Vampire Diaries: FF continuation from S02E08
by CeciliaVallin
Summary: After Damon compels Elena after telling her his true feeling, things turn out to change a little. Elena becomes more and more confused, Damon is being torn between choices, and Stefan starts feeling uneasy about some things.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Elena blinked again. Confused she looked around her. Wasn't she just in the bathroom? She placed her hand over her heart. Why was it beating so hard? And why was her entire body so … Warm. She kind of recognized this feeling. Had Stefan been here? No, that she would remember. And why did she have her necklace on? Hadn't she'd lost it? She placed the back of her hand over her forehead. Maybe she was sick. No, that wasn't the thing either. She exhaled heavily and decided to just go to bed. She couldn't remember if she'd brushed her teeth. Yeah, there was a taste of toothpaste in her mouth. She shook her head, as if to shake away these confusing thoughts. She's had a rough day. She'd been kidnapped. By vampires. Again. She laughed quietly at the bizarreness of her own world.

She was just about to jump into bed, when she realized that the window was open. She closed it before completing the task.

It took longer than expected to fall asleep, but finally she managed.

She slept well that night with warm and comforting dreams. When she woke she felt wonderful. She made sure to eat a big breakfast, just in case she was sick. She felt completely normal this morning, and she didn't worry about last night.

"Morning." Jeremy said as he entered the kitchen. Elena smiled at him.

"How are you?" he asked and leaned against the kitchen island.

"I'm good, Jeremy. I'm relieved to be home."

"I was really worried about you last night. I was so glad when you came home."

"Everything turned out fine, right? I'm home in one piece."

"Just promise to not get kidnapped again." He said with a smile. Elena laughed softly.

"I'll try." She said and scooped in another spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"So what are you doing today?" she asked after she'd swallowed.

"I'm going to meet Bonnie."

Surprised, Elena said:

"Bonnie?

"Yeah, Bonnie," He repeated slowly, as If Elena wouldn't understand otherwise, "She's a person. Your best friend remember." He continued teasingly. Elena made a face at him.

"Just didn't know you too hung out."

Jeremy shifted his body and a thoughtful expression filled his face.

"We don't. Or, we didn't. We just kind of bonded, you know. With being in all these weird situations together and all. "

"Yeah, that makes sense." She said and scooped another portion in her mouth.

"And you? Wait! Let me guess. You're meeting Stefan?"

Elena laughed.

"Probably. What else do I have to do today? Bonnie's spending the day with you, so I can't hang out with her. I think I'll just go over to see him."

Damon sat in the couch when Elena walked in. He glanced up at her briefly before returning his gaze to some magazine he didn't really care about. He'd thought that telling her would've cleared something within him, but he still felt so torn when he saw her. He tried to concentrate on the words and pictures in front of him, but the mere sound of her shoes against the floor made him think of only her. He frowned and threw the magazine on the coffee table.

"What's with you?" Elena asked. He looked up at her and smiled at her.

"Just disappointed that there isn't any juicy news on the celebrities. I always love a scandal."

"I never thought you'd be interested in that." She said laughing.

"Fine. I'm just bored."

"That, I'm not surprised about."

He smiled at her.

"Elena." Stefan said and appeared in the room. He embraced her and Damon watched as she returned the embrace with just as much affection. He grimaced.

"Hi." She whispered and nuzzled her face into his shoulder.

Stefan drew back from her, then leaned forward and kissed her gently. His hand caressed her cheek lightly.

"How are you?" he asked her.

"I'm fine."

She walked away from Stefan and sat down beside Damon on the couch. Stefan looked at her.

"You've got your necklace."

Elena looked down at it, as if she'd forgotten about it.

"Yeah, I know. I don't know how, though. I mean, I thought I'd lost it, but then last night, it was around my neck."

"Really?" Stefan asked and his eyes shifted to Damon. Damon looked at him innocently.

"The weird thing is," Elena continued, "I felt really weird last night too. Not just about the necklace, but like … I don't know."

Damon couldn't help it when his eyes snapped to her immediately. What did she mean by that? Did she remember? No, that would be impossible.

"Damon."

He looked at Stefan.

"You okay?" asked Stefan and looked at him with a face that expressed that he was on to him. Damon smoothened his face.

"Just fine." He said. He turned to Elena.

"In what way?" he asked. She looked at him.

"It's hard to explain."

"Try." He persisted.

She gave him a questioning look.

"Um … Well, I guess I felt kind of … Um … good." She said the last word as if she was trying it on, "But sad, in some way. As if I missed something. Kind of like when you think back at something great you had, but lost."

Without realizing it, Damon was smiling. It wasn't a smile of success, but a soft smile. A happy smile that snuck up on you whenever you felt happy. His whole body tickled with happiness. Then he realized it, and stopped smiling. He looked over at Stefan, who fortunately, hadn't noticed it. Or maybe he just didn't get it.

"Maybe it's a good thing." Elena said.

Stefan squatted down in front of her and grabbed her hands.

"I don't know Elena. It's not like you to just black out like that. "

Yeah, he definitely didn't get it. Damon heard movement on the floor above. Stefan had heard it to. He released Elena's hands and stood up.

"I'll be right back." He said and disappeared upstairs. Elena looked confused.

"We had a visitor last night." Damon explained to her.

"Who?" Elena asked.

"Your capturer." Damon said dramatically. Elena didn't seem surprised over this. Instead her face shown of understanding.

"I don't think they were evil. They just wanted to be able to be with each other. In peace." Her face went solemn, "I saw her face when Trevor died. She loved him. She just wanted to be with him."

"Well aren't you the compassionate hostage." Damon said teasingly and smiled at her. She smiled back.

"I know how I feel about Stefan. I understand. I would do anything for him."

Damon's mood fell.

"Look, Damon." Elena said and scooted closer to him. He stiffened a bit as she did so.

"I wanted to thank you for helping last night. That you came. It meant a lot to me."

He looked at her. She seemed to mean it.

"No problem." He said and placed his hand over hers. She looked down at it, kind of confused. As if she'd realized something. Her mouth opened slightly and slowly, she turned her hand around beneath his, and grabbed it. She drew her thumb over his hand, staring softly at it. Damon stared at her. She'd seemed to forgotten all about … everything. Like she was in her own mind. He leaned closer to her.

"Elena?" he asked carefully. No response.

"Elena?" he said again. This time she jumped. She withdrew her hand from his and looked at him with chocked eyes.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out, "I …"

She stood up swiftly, opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again and walked out of the room. Damon stared after her. What the …, he though. He bit his lower lip. Why had she'd done that? Damon had felt the way she'd touched his hand. Really felt it. She'd done it like … a lover would. He couldn't help the happiness coming back. He couldn't help that smile returning. He just knew that somewhere inside her, she felt for him in a stronger way than she let on. Of course, he'd always known this, but the moment they just had shared, really proved it.

But then he realized. She loved Stefan. She would always love Stefan. He knew that. It didn't matter how she felt about him. Even if she'd choose him someday, her feelings for Stefan would remain. And he knew how much his brother loved her. This was doomed to end up like the past if he'd ever let to get any further. Damon sighed, and left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Bonnie sat in one of the tables outside of Mystic Grill, holding a cup between both her hands, while staring intensively at the tea spoon in it. She pushed at it with her mind, but it just wouldn't move. She pushed again. And again. Nothing. Exasperated she released one of her hands around the cup and hit the top of the spoon with her palm. It flew out of the cup, coffee splashed violently to all sides, and the spoon landed on the ground beside her. She sighed. Why wasn't this working? What was wrong with her? This morning I had all been functioning inside her mind, and now, it was gone. A magical silence echoed all around her. No one could see this of course, if not they were a witch or some other form of supernatural being. She knew she'd been pushing it too hard lately, but she'd put her mind to it to slow down. Take it easy, she'd thought. But now she couldn't even do that. She wanted – no – needed, her magic. It was a part of her now. It was her only protection to all the awful things that had come into her world since the Salvatore's had come to Mystic Falls. In her mind, Stefan's face appeared. It didn't matter how much Elena loved him. It didn't matter if he was acting as human as possible. He wasn't human. Deep inside, he was … Like his brother, Bonnie thought.

"Bonnie, you okay?"

Bonnie looked up to find Jeremy standing opposite her, looking at her with worried eyes.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked him, smiling. Jeremy nudged his head forward.

"You're bleeding."

Bonnie's hand went automatically up to under her nose. She felt the skin with her finger. Wetness. Warm. She'd gotten a nosebleed again. She hadn't even used any powers. She hadn't been able to. Did she get this from only trying without even the slightest success? What was wrong with her? She reached for a napkin on the table and wiped the blood away.

"Are you okay?" Jeremy asked as he sat down by the table with her. His face was still worried. Bonnie didn't want to bother him with her problems, so she just smiled dismissively.

"I'm fine, Jer. Nothing to worry about. A bad night's sleep. That's all."

Jeremy didn't seem to buy it.

"Please don't lie to me, Bonnie. You scared me to death when you were sending that message to Elena."

"It's nothing." she insisted.

"Bon…" Jeremy started, but Bonnie cut him off.

"Just drop it Jeremy. Please."

He silenced. But Bonnie could see that he wasn't going to let it go.

"Aren't you going to order anything?" she asked him in an attempt to change the subject. He

glared at her for a second, but then his face softened and returned to normal.

"Just had breakfast. Not really peckish. Maybe later."

They sat then, in silence for a bit. I started to get a little bit awkward. Bonnie hadn't really hung out with Jeremy before. Not without Elena around. Then Jeremy cleared his throat.

"So …", he started, "how's everything going?"

Bonnie looked at him, then she started laughing. He laughed too.

"What is this?" she asked when the laughter had cleared a bit.

"I don't know," said Jeremy, "Why should it be so … Weird? We've known each other like forever."

"Exactly!" Bonnie agreed.

They laughed some more and then Jeremy disappeared into the grill to order something. Getting peckish now, he'd said.

Bonnie's eyes fluttered to the bloody napkin. It's nothing, she told herself. But she couldn't help but to worry.

Stefan left Elena and Damon and hurried upstairs. He entered one of the guest bedrooms and found Rose standing by the window, looking out.

"You're up." he said and walked to stand beside her. She turned to look at him.

"Yeah." she said and returned to looking out the window. Her head snapped around to look at the door for a second, before turning around again. Her face showed pain. Stefan put a hand on her back.

"What is it?" he asked, rubbing gently with the hand.

"Just not ready to hear his name yet." she said. Stefan frowned.

"Who's name?"

She turned to look at him. He took his hand back and put it in his pocket instead. Maybe she didn't like it, he thought.

"You can't hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?"

"Your brother and the human. They spoke about me and …" she didn't finish the sentence. Stefan looked at her.

"I didn't notice that."

"You didn't?" she asked and gave him a look of disbelief.

"No." Stefan said. He concentrated on the floor below. _Elena? Elena? _He heard Damon just fine. He then heard Elena's movement as she stood up. Her movement as she walked away. Why had she done that? What had Damon said, or done, to her? He heard Damon rise from the couch. Stefan turned around and left the room quickly. Within a third of a second he was blocking the way for his brother. Damon stopped abruptly.

"What did you do?" Stefan asked angrily and stared at his brother. Damon smiled mockingly at him.

"What are you talking about?" he said nonchalantly. Stefan let out a low growl, then he went past his brother and was outside the bathroom door. He knocked on it.

"Elena?" he asked through the wood with a worried voice. She didn't answer.

"What did Damon say? Why are you upset? What did he do?"

He asked these questions very close to each other. He wasn't sure that Elena had been able to keep up with them. But then she opened the door.

"He didn't do anything," she said and met his eyes, "I … I just don't feel very great. I think I'll go home."

Stefan took a step closer to her and closed her body within his arms. He smelled her hair.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly and lifted a hand to stroke the back of her head. He felt her lean closer to him, pressing her cheek against his chest.

"I love you." she said.

"I love you, too. You want me to take you home?"

"Could you?"

"Of course."

He released her hand grabbed her hand instead and then walked with her out of the house.

When Elena got home, Jeremy was still out. Well, of course, she thought. She'd only been away for like an hour or so. She drew her fingers through her hair. God, she hoped Stefan wasn't mad at her for leaving like that. But why should he? She could just as well be shaken up from last night. Nothing weird about that. That would be perfectly normal, and acceptable. It would be nothing like what had actually made her so upset.

Elena forced the thoughts out of her head and went into the kitchen. She opened the cabinet over the sink and reached for a glass. Then she opened the fridge, picked out a bottle of cold water and poured it into the glass.

As she leaned back onto the counter and lifted the glass to her lips, Jenna entered the kitchen. She stopped suddenly when she saw Elena, but the she continued into the room. She leaned herself over the kitchen island.

"What are you doing home?" she asked and smiled friendly at Elena. Elena took a sip from the water and then placed the glass, then walked up to the kitchen island, placed the glass on it and then leaned forward so she was facing Jenna at her own height.

"Jenna," she started and looked down, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Jenna said, and then added, "you're not doing anything you shouldn't, right? You haven't starting using drugs or partying or anything like that?"

Elena gave her a look of disbelief.

"You know me better than that, Jenna."

Jenna shook her head lightly. Elena though she would slap herself over the head at any minute now, as if saying: Stupid, Jenna. But she didn't.

"I'm sorry. Just a little tired today I guess. So, what did you want to talk about then?"

Elena took a deep breath and focused on what choice of words she would take.

"It's about Stefan," she started, "Well, maybe not exactly, but it has something to do with him too."

"What is it?" Jenna asked, her voice worried."

"Have you ever felt like there was … Well, like there was someone other than your boyfriend that mattered to you? In a very personal way."

"Elena," Jenna said and reached forward to grab her hands. Elena looked up at her.

"You know that I am very fond of Stefan," she continued, "He's always been very good to you. And I know how much you care about him. That only tells me that you're even more obliged to talk to him about certain feelings you might have for certain people." She looked down and added, almost as if she was speaking to herself, "No matter what I think of those certain people."

Elena stared at her.

"What …" she started, but didn't know what to say next.

"I'm not stupid, Elena. Anyone can see what is going on between you and Damon. I wouldn't be surprised if even Stefan saw. It's kind of obvious. I just think you might be the only one that's not really seeing it."

"I do see it!" Elena exclaimed and put her face in her hands, "I've always seen it. It's just never been like this before!", she looked up at Jenna, "It's always been those comments and the ways he's looked at me. But it's always been him teasing. I've never really felt anything towards him except, friendship or hatred. He's Stefan's brother, for God's sake!"

"Elena," Jenna said with a depth or worry and compassion in her voice, "Don't beat yourself up about it. We can't tell our hearts what to feel. I admit I don't like Damon … at all, but I can't tell you what to feel. He seems to be nice to you. He seems to care. I mean, the kiss and all, it looked kind of intimate, even though I would've preferred that you didn't on the porch …"

"What kiss?" Elena asked confused, and then she remembered that Damon had kissed Katherine, believing it was Elena. Had Jenna seen that? Elena suddenly felt a jolt of happiness that Katherine was locked up in that tomb.

"Oh," Elena said, "That kiss. Did it really look that way?"

"Oh, yes. It wasn't exactly subtle. Does Stefan know?"

The thought of Stefan made a big lump appear in her stomach.

"Yeah, he knows," Elena said. After all, he did know, but he knew the truth.

"And he's not mad?" Jenna asked.

"Well, he's kind of pissed at Damon, but not so much with me."

Jenna sighed.

"Sometimes I think that boy is even too good for you. Even Alaric seems to like hem a lot."

Elena smiled at her, then she stood up straight. Jenna did the same.

"I think I'm going to take a bath."

"You do that, Elena. I think that would be good for you. I remember my younger days and all the boy trouble that comes with it. A soothing bath is always good for you."

Elena gave her an agreeing smile and hurried upstairs. She waited until the tub was filled with hot water, then she locked the two doors in the room and jumped in. It felt amazing. Just what I needed, she thought. She closed her eyes and tried to shut everything out from her mind. At first, it seemed to be working. Then, his face appeared in her mind. Damon smiled at her. His light eyes stared deep into somewhere in her mind. She imagined his hands on her legs. She felt them gently glide upwards, over the thighs, over her hip, over her stomach, over her chest, and finally, placing themselves gently around her throat, one finger searching its way up to touch her lip. She tried to push these thought away, to force the feeling of his touch off her. But it wasn't possible. Her eyes flew open. Panic rose within her body when the hand around her throat tightened and pushed her down under the water. She slapped her arms violently around in the water, feeling them cut the surface hard, splashing water everywhere. She screamed. A muffled sound came from her throat, but it never seemed to break the surface. Her screams were stuck under the water along with her.

My legs, she though. She kicked as hard as she could with her legs and felt them lift from the tub and swing to the side, hitting something big and cold. The dark shadow above the water disappeared from her sight and the hand was no longer forcing her down. She pushed her body upwards and drew in a deep breath as she felt the air becoming available for her again. Even though she wanted to get some more air into her lungs, she realized that she didn't have time for that. Her eyes flew around the room, and then she saw him. The door to her bedroom was open, and there, sitting on her bed, was a man. He had long, dark hair that reached all the way down to his waist. And he was tall. Even sitting down, you could easily see that he was taller than the average person. Equally dark brows cast shadows over his eyes. Elena couldn't see the upper half of his face very good, but she could clearly see that he was smiling. She saw his tongue lick his lips. He stood up, and Elena held her breath. She braced herself for the fight she knew she was going to lose, but he didn't approach her. Instead he just turned around and walked out of her sight. She heard the door to her bedroom open and close, and then there was silence. Elena breathed. Hard. She was so scared. Who the hell had that been, and why did he try to kill her? And where did he go?

Elena's eyes widened. Jenna!

She pushed her body out of the tub. She slipped on the wet floor and fell down. She ignored the pain and pushed herself up and started running. She flung the door open and ran out into the upstairs hallway.

"Jenna!" She screamed and then darted down the stairs.

"Jenna!" She screamed again as she hit the floor below the stairs. She headed for the kitchen, and then she flew into someone. She hit the other body so hard that they both flew back and fell to the floor. Elena felt a terrible pain form in her arm. She grasped it with her hand and moaned.

"Elena! Elena!"

Jenna's hands were on her, pulling Elena against her chest.

"Oh, sweetie. What's wrong? Please, you're scaring me!"

Elena took a deep breath then searched for Jenna's eyes. When she found them she understood that she wasn't hurt. The man hadn't hurt her. Elena's mind searched for an idea, and then she founf one she could use.

"I'm sorry, Jenna. So sorry. I think I fell asleep. I must've had a bad dream or something, cause when I woke up I got this terrible feeling that you were hurt. I just ran out of the bathtub to check up on you. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize!" Jenna exclaimed, "I'm just glad you're okay!"

"I'm fine." Elena assured her. Jenna looked at her and frowned. She release Elena gently and got up. She disappeared into the living room and came back holding a blanket. Elena got up from the floor and Jenna wrapped the blanket around her.

"Why don't you go up and rest. You seem to need it."

Elena laughed lightly.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm getting kind of crazy here."

"Maybe you should call Stefan? I would actually like it if he could be with you now, in case you freak out again."

"I'll do that." Elena promised and went back upstairs. She closed the door behind her, dropped the blanket on the floor and went into the bathroom. She wrapped her hair into a towel and then went to the closet. She dressed in a pair of slacks and a t-shirt, then she picked up her phone and called Stefan.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

Anger filled Damon's entire body as he listened in of the phone call Stefan was having right now. He stood up, hesitating. Stefan was still on the phone, and Elena was fine now. That man that had attacked her had left the house. Still, Damon's body wanted to run out of the boardinghouse and over to her. He wanted to make sure that she was okay. He felt Rose's eyes on him, and he turned to look at her.

"What?" he snapped at her amused expression. She raised her eyebrows and hands in a defensive gesture.

"Nothing," she laughed, "Just relax, okay?"

Damon glared at her. He wasn't in the mood for chatting right now. His attention shifted when he heard Elena's goodbye to Stefan and the phone snapping shut. Damon rushed.

"We're going?" he asked his brother when he appeared in front of him. Stefan looked at him with solemn eyes. Like something was hurting her. Damon felt panicked.

"She's fine, right? I heard …"

"You heard correctly. Elena's fine. Just a little shaken up."

Without really meaning to do it, Damon punched his brother in the shoulder. Hard.

"Then don't look like that!"

Exasperated, he walked pass his brother towards the door.

"You coming?" he asked as he opened the door. When he walked through it Stefan was right behind him.

When they reached Elena's house Damon headed for her window, but Stefan grabbed his arm and shook his head. Damon followed him over to the front door. Damon didn't like this porch. Too many memories, he thought. Okay, one special memory was the problem. The kiss. That wonderful kiss. The memory of finding out it wasn't what he'd though, made him push the image of it away. The door opened in front of them and Jenna greeted Stefan. She looked at him with relief, as if she couldn't be happier that he was there. When she looked at Damon though, she just nodded and gave him a stiff smile. Damon smiled as charmingly as possible when he passed her.

"Jenna." he simply said and gave her a quick nod before following Stefan up the stairs.

Elena opened the door and then closed it immediately after they'd both entered the room. She lunged herself into Stefan's arms. Damon ignored that and went to sit on the bed. Some weird and kind of sweet smell reached its way into his nostrils. He's smelled this before, but couldn't figure out what it was. It wasn't anything he'd smelled around Elena, so he pushed the worries about the smell away. He looked up just in time to see Elena withdraw from Stefan. She tugged at the bottom of her t-shirt that had slid up a bit. Damon stayed on the bed, but he spread his arms widely at her and smiled broadly.

"My turn?" he asked with obvious irony in his voice. Elena took a step towards him, then she stopped. She stared at him with wide eyes.

"No" she said and took a step closer to Stefan. Damon chuckled. He let his arms fall and shifted his eyes to the open bathroom door. On the floor beside the bathtub there had been several towels placed. They were all soaked. He felt this urge to go over there and clean it all up. Instead, he rose from the bed and went over to the window. He leaned his hand on the windowsill and stared out of it. Just a normal, sunny day outside of her window.

Stefan and Elena was talking about the attack, totally ignoring to include him. Damon pressed his lips together.

"What did he want?" he asked and turned around. They both looked at him, not prepared for his interruption.

"I don't know," said Elena, "he didn't say. In fact, he didn't say anything at all. That made the whole thing even more scary."

"Darling." Stefan breathed and pulled her into his arms again. Once again, Damon ignored them. He didn't have to hold her. She was safe. That was enough.

"I thought about calling Bonnie, then I remembered she's with Jeremy …"

_Bonnie,_

"… I didn't want to disturb them …"

_The witch,_

" … and I heard Jeremy say something about her being sick …"

_When she use her powers,_

" … and I'm worried about her, Stefan. She …"

_She smells like,_

"I just don't know what to …"

"Magic!" Damon exclaimed and Elena silenced. They both turned to stare at him. He met their wondering eyes with his own shining ones.

"It's magic!" he said again and pointed to the bed. He thought he actually saw Stefan grab Elena harder and pulling her towards him. Damon clicked with his tongue.

"I'm not crazy, brother. Can't you smell it?"

Stefan's hold of Elena loosened and he took a step towards Damon. He lifted his nose into the air and sniffed. His eyes widened.

"What is that?" he asked. Damon smiled triumphantly.

"As I said. Magic."

"I don't understand, Damon."

Damon gave out an annoyed sigh.

"Haven't the witch ever used that head thing on you, oh, never mind. Remember whenever Emily was around us? Whenever we were around any witch? Don't you remember the smell?"

Stefan seemed to think this over, then she sniffed one more time and his eyes widened even more.

"Of course!" he said, "when a powerful enough witch uses magic …"

"… It leaves a smell behind." Damon finished. Their eyes met in a moment of total understanding. Then they both looked at Elena.

Bonnie entered Elena's room with a cautious glance at Damon, then Stefan. Jeremy closed the door behind her.

"What a gathering." Damon said stupidly and Bonnie snorted. God he could be annoying.

She walked passed him and placed herself by the window. Jeremy went to stand beside her. She looked over at him. He smiled reassuringly at her. Maybe he knew she wasn't comfortable here. She moved her attention to the rest of the room.

"So," she said, "what's the favor you need?"

It was Elena that answered.

"We need you to try and feel if there is any other witch in town. Can you do that?"

Bonnie stared at her. She didn't need this right now. No one could know about her recent loss of power. Anything could happen if word got around. Without any real answer in her head, she simply said:

"Maybe."

Childish, she thought. What was she going to do now? Damon was the one who spoke next.

"Then be a good best friend and help us out here."

She glared at him. Everybody's eyes were on her. She had no choice but to try and hope for the best. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. Somehow the air didn't seem to want to escape her throat and she felt the anxiety creep up on her. Then she felt a hand slowly seek its way into hers. She opened her eyes and met Jeremy's. He nodded at her and mouthed: I've got you. She smiled at him, took a new breath, closed her eyes and searched. She dropped everything around her and focused on any presence in the area. When she didn't find anything, she expanded. After maybe a minute or so, she felt something. It wasn't pleasant at all and she had to put in all of her power to even touch it the slightest. It pushed back. She moaned and squeezed Jeremy's hand. Her head started aching so violently, that she started feeling sick to her stomach. She forced her mind to press against the barrier that other force had put up. It was so hard. She felt thick tears fall down her face, and her mouth filled with the taste of iron. Her whole body tensed as she pushed that last bit, before she knew she wasn't going any further. She released Jeremy's hand and swung her arm up, pointing out the window to the east.

"The forest!" she pressed out between clenched teeth, "Somewhere, I'm losing it. The forest!"

She felt hands on her face and arms and legs. She felt her head burst into pain. She tried to scream, but nothing about her would work. She heard something, but couldn't figure out what it was. Then everything just released her and she was calm, gone, for the moment.

Elena followed Damon through the trees. She felt clumsy, in the way. While she was fighting the branches and roots, Damon moved swiftly and quietly through the thick forest. It didn't matter that he was holding her hand tightly; everything still poked her in the eyes and scratched her cheeks. She was also still worried about Bonnie. She'd woken up after the collapse, but she'd seem so tired. Stefan had been so kind to offer to stay with her. Elena knew he didn't like the idea of her and Damon going on a searching trip in the woods together. He cared for her safety. Stefan didn't trust Damon. Neither did Elena, but she knew he wouldn't hurt her, and she knew he would protect her. And she was scared of that strange man, and she didn't want to go to sleep tonight without knowing anything about him. So Damon an Elena had set off into the woods to where Bonnie had pointed. Their mission was to search for anything that seemed out of the ordinary. So far, all they'd seen was trees. Elena stepped on something hard and felt her foot angle itself into a dangerous position. She tried to avoid it, but it was too late. The foot hit the ground and it started aching. She gave out a complaining sound, since it wasn't painful enough to scream over, and pulled her hand free from Damon's. She fell to the ground.

"You okay?" Damon asked as he turned around and looked down at her. She smirked.

"Fine. Everything just fine." She said with a hard tone. Damon squatted down in front of her and smiled playfully.

"If you want me to carry you, just ask."

"I'm fine." Elena said slowly and stood up. Damon reached for her, but she slapped his hand away. She wasn't a child. He smiled at her and then turned around. When he started moving forward Elena did her best to follow him. But she noticed that even that tiny little detail to hold his hand had helped out a lot. She reached forward and grabbed one of his hands. He stopped and turned around. He met her eyes for a second, before realizing what she wanted, and then returned to walking.

"Seen anything yet?" she asked after another five minutes. They had to be very far into the forest now. Damon stopped.

"Actually," he said and pulled Elena forward a few meters, "I have."

They were standing in a huge clearing. Here, in the middle of the forest. She'd never ever heard anything about this before. She knew some of the local hikers well, and they ought to have mentioned this to someone. It was a beautiful clearing, sure, but that wasn't exactly what Elena though would be the source to big gossip.

There was a huge mansion placed in the middle of the clearing. An old, beautiful house that looked like it belonged back in the day. Like way back in the day. Elena felt Damon grab her arm and pull her back into the trees.

"Better stay out of sight." he whispered into her ear. Elena nodded and turned around to face him. She felt her heart jump. Damon was looking at her so intensively, like he was really thinking over something. She couldn't help but to find those blue eyes so mesmerizing. She just stared at him, and he just stared at her. She felt her breath deepen as he slowly leaned forward. Automatically she lifted her chin the slightly. She felt his hand grab her shoulder, very carefully. His fingers shifted into her collarbone, and she shivered. He seemed to take that as an invite, because he closed the space between them and Elena could feel his lips brush against hers. Her eyes shut. It was when she felt his hand on the back of her neck that she really understood what she was doing. Her eyes snapped open and she pushed at his chest as hard as she could. Damon took one unsteady step back and relief filled Elena when she no longer could feel any of his hands on her. She exhaled. She looked up at Damon.

"We'll talk about that later. We have to go now." She said as quickly as she could before walking past Damon as fast as she could. She heard him follow her.

They kept to the trees when they walked around the house. When they reached the side of the mansion, Elena noticed a wide balcony. It seemed like an area of interest.

"You might be able to see something from there." She said to Damon. He leaned over her shoulder to observe it himself.

"Worth a shot." he said. He paused a bit by here, smelling her hair she thought, before leaping across the open space between the trees and the house. Elena watched as he jumped up on the balcony as if it would've been standing on the ground, instead of hanging a floor up. Elena looked to both her sides before hurrying after him. She had to stay in the ground though, and she peeked up at him.

"You see anything?" she whispered with enough force for him to hear. He looked down at her.

"The guy that attacked you, the witch."

"Yeah?"

"Long, black hair, tall as hell, gangly thing?"

"Exactly! You see him?"

Elena felt a jolt of worry for Damon.

"Kind of. There's a portrait of him here. I'm going to look through some windows."

Elena watched him as he climbed the wall, window to window. When he looked into the window right beside the balcony, he stopped. He stared intently into the room behind it.

"Want to hear the bad news?" Damon asked, still staring through the window.

"I guess." Elena said glumly to his back. Might just as well get it over with, she thought.

"It seems this guy doesn't like his houseguests alive."

"What do you mean?"

Damon turned and looked down at her with raised eyebrows.

"What do you think?" he said and returned to looking through the window. Elena felt sick. Even though she couldn't see what Damon was seeing, she could imagine the room before her. She didn't want to think about the number of bodies that would be in that room, she didn't want to think about it at all. She looked up at Damon again.

"And the good news?" Elena whispered in search for a distraction. Damon turned around and looked at her with questioning eyes.

"What good news?" he whispered back to her, wrinkling his forehead in confusion.

"The ones that come after the bad news."

"After what bad news?"

"The one's you just said."

"What are you talking about?"

"What are _you_ talking about?"

Damon dropped down from the window and landed in front of her on the ground. He took one step closer to her and placed his palm on her forehead.

"You feeling alright?" he asked and tilted his head to the side, inspecting her face.

"I'm fine," Elena said and slapped his hand away, "what's wrong with you. You don't remember talking just now?"

"Of course I do," Damon said and looked at Elena like she'd lost her mind, "It was you that babbled on about good news."

"Because I wanted you to tell me them." Elena said. She was staring to get very annoyed with him.

"There was no good news to tell."

"But you asked if I wanted to hear the bad news first. If you ask that, you're pretty much expected to say some good news afterwards." she hissed at him, almost forgetting to keep her voice down. Damon crossed his arms around his chest.

"I never said that." he said with a hard, final tone.

"Yes you did!" Elena hissed even louder this time.

"No, I didn't." Damon pushed out between clenched teeth. Elena figured he wanted to scream at her as much as she wanted to scream at him. He was just better at controlling his feelings than she was.

Elena felt her fists form into balls as she took one step towards him.

"Fine," she said, snapping her head in a nonchalant way, "Have it your way."

"Fine." Damon said.

Elena opened her mouth to say something very rude to Damon, but at that instant, someone stepped put on the balcony above them. Before Elena could react, Damon had grabbed hold of her, spun her around, and pushed her into the stone wall under the balcony, concealing them from whoever was standing, now, above them. Her back hadn't hit the wall as hard as she thought it would've. The velocity had dropped just in the right moment, and amount, to gently place her back against the wall. Even so, her instincts had told her to scream from the pain they thought she'd get, and Damon had pressed his hand against her mouth. His eyes were staring into hers intensively, telling her to keep quiet. She stared back at him, chocked. Not at what he'd just done, but at how her body had responded to it. Her heart was beating hard and she shivered. Without knowing why, her hand had flown up and grabbed his arm, squeezing it; like she wanted to pull him closer. He frowned and looked down at it. She released him quickly and he shifted his eyes to her face again. She nodded at him, and he slowly lifted the hand away from her mouth. When he did, she let out a slow breath, trying as hard as she could not to make too much of a noise.

Then the man on the balcony spoke


	4. Chapter 4

_/Okay, so I haven't worked on this for a while, so tell me if it doesn't fit in any way with the precious chapters/_

Chapter four

Damon's breath made Elena's forehead moist and warm. It wasn't pleasant. She shifted her body so she wasn't facing him. Damon didn't stop her from doing that, but he leaned forward and whispered in her ear: "Be quiet". Elena gave him a nod and watched as he turned his head up towards the floor of the balcony. Elena did the same.

"It's a lovely night", the man voice echoed from the balcony, "We should spend more time outside, Jon."

His voice was deep and confident. Elena didn't exactly know why – but she imagined the man standing with his noise pointing up in the air and his hands behind his back.

A thought formed in Elena's head. What if they were vampires? Couldn't they hear them below the balcony them? Vampires could her pretty well.

She nudged Damon as quietly as she could in his arm and he looked down at her, his eyebrows raised as if to ask: "What?"

Elena silently tapped a finger against her ear and nodded upwards. Damon frowned. She rolled her eyes and reached up with both her hands and arranged both her index fingers by her upper lip. She then made this odd smile and wiggled her fingers a bit, obviously giving a lame attempt at displaying some kinds of moving fangs. When she caught Damon's amuse look, she rolled her eyes, removed her fingers immediately, looked at him meaningfully and once again tapped her ear.

He looked like he wanted to start laughing, but of course he held it back. Instead he just shook his head – still looking a bit amused at her imitation of his kind, and raised his hand in the air. Elena watched as he mimicked holding something in it and swooshing it around in uncoordinated moves. _Was that supposed to resemble a wand?_

Elena wasn't as composed as Damon, and she couldn't stop the laugh that almost escaped her if Damon hadn't cramped his hand down over her mouth. She met his serious eyes and forced the humor away from her mind. This was after all a rather serious situation.

"But sir", it was another voice that spoke now, a male one as well, but a bit more distant, as if he wasn't on the balcony – but inside the mansion, "What are we going to do? With all that happened tonight …"

"Don't bother with that. It'll all turn out as planned."

"I just don't understand why you had to …"

When the man answered the other man, his tone was vial.

"I did what I wanted to do", he snapped, "I felt like it."

"But sir, the vampires … They'll surely be on their guard now. She'll be more protected. They'll be expecting us to …"

The man scoffed.

"They won't be expecting anything. They're vampires. Stupid creatures."

Elena couldn't help but to look at Damon for his reaction to this, but he didn't seem to take offense. If he was – he wasn't showing it.

He slowly removed the hand from her mouth and placed it on her shoulder instead, as if that would help keep her calm. She had to admit, she appreciated the gesture.

Elena heard footsteps – the other man had entered out on the balcony as well.

"But why the house, sir? Is it really necessary? With this amount of magic … Any practician can certainly feel it."

"The house?" the man sounded amused, "Because I quite like this house. It's not like I'm going to live in one of those awful motels. Besides, the first thing I did when I arrived in this town was so scan for any magical entities and block it. Nothing is going to lead anyone to us."

He sounded so sure of himself. Elena couldn't help but to feel kind of smug. She'd found them. Ha! Well, maybe Damon had … but she'd been in his company when he did.

"But what about the young one? The one who searched earlier? She almost found us."

"She didn't find anything. She's young. Anyway, I blocked her."

"But what if she tries again? You can't be expected to constantly be on your watch …"

"I don't think we'll have to worry about her for much longer. She's getting weaker."

Were they talking about another witch? Were they talking about Bonnie? What did they mean she's getting weaker? Elena's eyes met Damon's. He obviously noticed the alarm in her, because he gently rubbed her shoulder and shook his head, telling her to be quiet and not think about it.

But how could she not? If it was Bonnie they meant, then … What exactly did they mean by that?

"Ah …" the other man said, "that's right. She shares the blood. She'll need …"

"Yes, she'll need the amulet soon. And since I don't believe she's even aware", he laughed then, a very disgusting self-righteous laugh, "that she shares the blood; she won't even be searching for it. Stupid little girl will never know what hit her."

Elena felt the deepest worry for Bonnie. She wanted to know what they were talking about and how she could help her best friend. She wanted to scream to the men on the balcony to tell her all about it, to explain what they meant. She couldn't though. That might get both her and Damon killed at the spot. So she bit her lip and stayed put.

"So how much longer, sir? When can we head home?" the other man asked.

"Not very long. Two, three days at the most I would believe. It'll be no hardship getting the doppelganger. It just depends on those stupid vampires."

"The Salvatore's, sir?"

"Yes, the Salvatore's, Jon."

The man sighed then.

"They are nothing. A small obstacle. I'll just make sure she's alone and then …"

He trailed off. Elena sucked in a breath. Had he heard them? Did he know they'd been listening to this whole conversation? She could feel Damon's hand getting tense on her shoulder. Oh my God! They _had _heard them.

But when the man spoke again, he sounded calm.

"I think it's time for a snack, don't you Jon?"

"Oh, yes sir. I'll prepare one immediately", the other main said hurriedly and Elena heard him leave the balcony. She listened carefully. The other man didn't leave. He just stood there. It felt like forever that she and Damon just stood under the balcony, waiting for him to leave.

Finally, he did.

As soon as they heard the balcony doors shut above them, Damon picked her up like a child and sprinted back into the forest. He didn't stop right away; he kept going further away from the clearing and the mansion. Finally, when he thought it was safe, he stopped and let her down.

Even though Elena hadn't even moved herself the whole way, she still breather heavily. The thought were spinning in her head. Bonnie, the blood, amulet, doppelganger. What the hell had all that been about.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Damon frowning. He was looking at her, but he seemed to be lost in thought as well.

Elena reached up and placed her hand over the one he'd put on her shoulder. When she touched him, his eyes focused back. She knew that what they'd overheard pointed out that she, Elena Gilbert, was in immediate danger from whoever that man had been – but all she could think about was how apparently her best friend was just sitting around, waiting for her own death.

Elena looked at Damon with pleading eyes and said: "Bonnie."

Damon nodded seriously, going back to looking thoughtful. Then he grabbed her hand again.

"We have to go", he said. Elena just nodded.

And they started back to Elena's house.

Stefan had a hard time leaving Bonnie's side, but he felt that he had to feed. Even though Jeremy was telling him it was alright and that he could look after Bonnie, Stefan still seemed reluctant to leave the unconscious witch's side.

"It's okay, Stefan. You go. I'll look after her", Jeremy told him as he sat down on the chair they'd placed beside Elena's bed. He gently placed Bonnie's hand in his own and gave it a light squeeze. He was hoping for a reaction, but none came. His heart felt heavy as he watched her laying there, her eyes closed and her breathing shallow. He'd used a wet towel to wipe the blood away from her face and neck, down to where it had dripped. It had been horrible to see – the blood that pushed itself out of her lachrymal ducts, her nose and her mouth, making her look like something from a horror movie.

_Why did she have to do it? _

"I know you can, Jeremy", Stefan said from somewhere behind him, he didn't want to look away from Bonnie, "I just feel so guilty."

Without realizing it, Jeremy squeezed Bonnie's hand even tighter.

"What do you have to feel guilty about?" he snapped, closing his eyes to control his anger, "What could you possibly have done to prevent this?"

Stefan was quiet for a while, before he said: "I didn't _object _to her doing this. I was too concerned for Elena. I feel so selfish. I should've though more about what it could do to Bonnie. I should've stopped her once I smelled the blood. I should've …"

"Yeah", Jeremy interrupted stiffly, "Maybe you should've."

He listened as Stefan left the room and then opened his eyes.

Maybe he shouldn't have acted like that. After all, what Stefan said was true. He was just being worried for Elena. Jeremy couldn't possibly expect either of the brothers to put anything before Elena. He knew how much she meant to Stefan, and to Damon … Well, she meant something to him as well. Jeremy just didn't know what yet.

But didn't they understand? Couldn't they see that Bonnie meant just as much to Jeremy as Elena meant to them? Hadn't there been something growing between him and her lately? The way he felt right now should be proof of that.

If anyone had it worse, it was Jeremy. He loved his sister more than anything in the world and of course he wanted to protect her, but Bonnie … She was becoming something just as important to him.

Jeremy gently touched her cheek. She was so still.

_Come on! Wake up, Bonnie! Wake up!_

Jeremy felt a lump search its way up his throat and that uncomfortable burn in his eyes. He gently placed his forehead against Bonnie's, and cried.

When they reached Elena's house Damon and Elena sat down on the porch steps. They'd been running and Damon could tell she was exhausted. He looked over at her, her sad features covered by her long hair as she hunched her head down. He hated seeing her like this.

He placed his hand on her back, wanting to comfort her.

"You want to go inside?" he asked her softly. She just sighed and shook her head.

"No …" she said very quietly, "Not yet. I don't … There's too much to … I just want to not think about anything for a while."

"Of course."

Even when she's sad, she's the most beautiful thing in the world, Damon thought as he watched Elena. At first it had been her resemblance to Katherine that had made him so attached to her. Whenever he'd seen her, all the memories of what he and Katherine had done together came back, and in some fucked up way – he'd wished that that could all happen again, just with Elena this time.

Damon hated himself for ever thinking that way. Elena was nothing like Katherine. It would be an insult to her to compare her to that woman. As he looked at her now, the goodness of her heart practically glowing like an aura around her … No. Elena was not like Katherine. She wasn't like anybody else in the world. She was special.

Why couldn't she just understand how much she meant to him? Maybe he shouldn't have erased what he told her. Maybe it would be different if she knew how he felt about her.

No. She loved Stefan.

But what about her reaction on the forest? Damon had seen it, felt it. She'd wanted to lean into him. She'd wanted to kiss him. She'd said they would talk about that later. What did she mean by that? Was she going to admit she felt drawn to him? Because he knew she did. It couldn't just be him that felt this way. It was way too strong for her not to feel it too. It was …

Wait! What is he thinking? Here's Elena; sad and scared for her friend – her heart probably shattering into pieces right now, and here's Damon; selfish, stupid Damon. Only thinking of himself. She doesn't need that right now. She needs him to be her friend, her ally.

Damon rubbed her back and whispered: "We'll find out whatever he meant, Elena. We'll take care of it. I won't let anything happen to Bonnie. Or you. I promise."

Elena sniffled and looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears. This was just too much right now. He couldn't stand to see her this way.

"I'm so scared, Damon", Elena cried.

"We'll fix it", Damon told her reassuringly.

She let out a heartbreaking whimper and leaned against him, burying her face in his shirt. Damon moved his hand from her back and cupped the back of her head. He kissed the top of her hair and then rested his cheek against it. He put his arms around her and felt her body shake softly as she cried.

"Stefan! Calm down!" Rose exclaimed and grabbed his arm. He stopped pacing and looked at her.

"It's my entire fault!" he said, "Elena getting attacked and I wasn't there, and then Bonnie, using too much magic just because I couldn't stop thinking about Elena. And now Jeremy thinks I'm a monster!"

Before he could stop himself Stefan threw the glass he was holding towards the wall and it shattered. He didn't care. He would destroy everything in this house if it would give him one second of peace. But he knew nothing would do that. He needed Elena safe and Bonnie back to consciousness. He also needed to know of Damon was back with her yet. He didn't trust him enough. For all he knew, Damon could've already caused her death in some way.

Stefan tore his arm away from Rose, took a few steps away and took out his cell phone.

"She's okay", Damon answered without needing Stefan to even say a word, "We're back at the house. Something's happened. You should come."

Stefan opened his mouth to say something, but Damon hung up before he could.

"What's going on?" Rose asked, appearing by his side. He didn't look at her.

"I don't know", he said, "I'm going back."

"Let come with you. I'll help."

Stefan didn't think twice about it. If what Damon had to tell him had anything to do with some sort of threat towards Elena, he wouldn't say no to more help.

"Let's go", he told her and they left the boarding house.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Stefan was yelling at Damon, demanding he'd explain one more time about this whole "witch after the doppelganger"-thing. Damon was yelling right back at Stefan, pointing out that he'd already explained what had been overheard perfectly fine and that he didn't know anything more, no matter how much Stefan wanted to understand this whole thing, and Jeremy was practically jumping up and down beside them both, shouting: "What amulet? What do you mean she '_shares the blood_'? Getting weaker from _what_?"

Elena looked from one angry and confused face to another, closed her eyes, opened them and then said: "I'm going to the kitchen."

She waited for their response, but when neither of the three men seemed to even notice she had spoken at all, she sighed and left her bedroom. She could still hear their loud words once she closed the door behind her.

Elena leaned her back against the wooden surface and buried her face in her hands. She slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor and tried to shut out the arguments coming from her bedroom.

She moved her hands to cover her ears instead.

She didn't know _why_ she'd left the room. This wasn't like her. She wanted to be in there with them, arguing and trying to solve this whole thing. She wanted to save Bonnie. She wanted to save herself.

But for some reason … she just couldn't take it anymore. This was all too much for the moment and she just wanted to exile herself from everything that was going on and breathe. Just breathe.

"Too much?" a female voice asked.

Elena removed her hands from her ears – it wasn't like it had done any good anyway – and looked up at the vampire standing in front of her. Elena sighed.

"Yeah," she said looking down at the floor. "I mean … I don't know. I just …"

"Needed a break?" Rose asked. Elena looked back at her and gave a weak smile.

"I know I have to deal with all this. Just … later, you know?"

Rose smiled back and her eyes shot to the door.

"They seem pretty wound up, don't they?" Her eyes shifted back to Elena. "And all because of you. You must be pretty special."

Her words weren't patronizing in any way. She was just making a statement.

Rose held her hand out to Elena.

"Come on. Let's go outside," she said. Elena reached up and let Rose pull her to her feet.

"Please," she said, felling a bit relieved to get some fresh air.

They made their way down the stairs and onto the front porch. They settled down where Damon and Elena had been sitting before Stefan had come screeching into her driveway, interrupting their calm moment.

Elena felt a little bad for being angry with Stefan. He'd just been worried about her. But it had felt so good to just sit there, in silence, as Damon held her.

Though the second Stefan had closed his arms around her had also felt good.

Elena watched Rose peer out over Elena's front yard. She tried imagining how she would feel if she lost Stefan, or Damon, or Jeremy – the way Rose had lost Trevor. The thought scared her.

"Look, Rose," Elena began and Rose turned to look at her. "I understand. Why you took me, I mean. You just wanted to have some peace."

Rose let out a small laugh.

"And look how that all turned out. My best friend is dead and I'm stuck in a house with two lovesick vampires."

Elena glanced up at her.

"Damon doesn't love me," she said. "He just … _Cares_ for me."

Rose raised her eyebrows at her, her eyes filling with amusement.

"Are all humans this ignorant?" she asked.

Elena ignored her question. She didn't want to think about Damon in that way. Not now. She didn't need to add to her already confused mind.

Her thoughts lingered back to the brief moment in the woods. To when they'd been so close, the look in Damon's eyes and her reaction to his touch.

_No. Not now._

"How long do you think they'll keep this up?" Elena asked, glancing back at the front door of her house.

"Depends on how long it'll take them to notice you're not in the room anymore," Rose said with obvious amusement.

Elena sighed.

"We should go back," she said. Rose stood up as a response.

Once they entered back into the house, Stefan was ascending the stairs.

"How are you?" he asked Elena, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking down at her with concerned eyes.

"I'm fine," she said, trying to sound sincere. He didn't seem to buy it though.

"You've decided on something?" Elena asked before he could say anything. Stefan let out a deep sigh.

"We tried," he said. "I don't think it will work with Jeremy there. He won't stop about Bonnie. We _will_ look into that," he added quickly when Elena opened her mouth to say something. "We all just need to calm down and really try to understand this."

"Yeah," Elena agreed.

Stefan pulled her to him and she closed her eyes, liking the way his embrace made her feel better.

"I should stay here tonight," he murmured into her hair. "I don't want to leave you alone."

Elena just nodded. She didn't want to be alone.

"What about the witch?" Rose asked from behind Elena. "She's just going to lay there?"

"Of course not!" Stefan snapped, releasing Elena so he could look at Rose better. "Damon and Jeremy are getting her down now. They're taking her to the hospital."

Elena grabbed Stefan's arm.

"Is it that bad? I thought it was a magical thing?"

When Stefan looked at her, his face softened. He reached out and stoked her hair as he said: "We don't know what is wrong with her, Elena. But a hospital might be the best place for her right now. It's possible she fainted from using too much magic, and it _is_ possible that there is something magical happening to her, but at least in a hospital she'll get the rest she probably need. We just don't want to take any chances keeping her here."

"Okay," said Elena. "I think I need to sleep now."

"I think we can arrange that," Stefan said with small smile, cupped her face within his hands and kissed her forehead softly.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Elena turned around, glass of water in hand, and met Jenna's eyes.

"I'm sure," she said and lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip. "What's with these questions anyway?"

It had started the second Elena had entered the kitchen. Jenna had been stationed by the kitchen island, holding a cup of coffee with one hand and today's newspaper in the other. When Elena had entered, Jenna had put down the newspaper and immediately shifted her attention to the teenage girl living in the house with her.

And then the questions had begun, an abridged version of them would be something like: 'What happened last night? You do this whole straight out of bath panic attack and then you lock yourself in your room for hours along with your friends?'

Elena, quite tired and not even fully awake yet had given the very clever response of: Sleepover. Seriously, that's what she wanted Jenna to believe. That she, along with Stefan, Damon, Rose, Bonnie and Jeremy, had had a sleepover. And even though she could see the doubt in Jenna's eyes now – as Elena leaned back against the counter and took another sip of water – she forced herself to stick with her stupid story.

"But what was all that screaming about? I heard it, Elena," Jenna pushed, being persistent to find out why Elena was lying to her.

Elena just shrugged and looked away.

"Something about a movie, I think."

"A movie?" Jenna asked, her voice letting Elena know that she was having a hard time believing that explanation. "What could they possibly be screaming so loudly over that has to do with a movie? Because, Elena, even though I didn't hear _what_ was being said, I know it was something that made them all mad. I have no doubt."

Elena glanced back up at her guardian, before turning around to pour the water left in the glass down the sink.

"I think it was something about which guy is the toughest or … which car is the fastest. Something like that." She rinsed the glass under the tap before placing it down in the sink and turning around to face Jenna again. "You know, like guys do," she added with a shrug.

It was obvious Jenna didn't believe her, and Elena prepared herself for yet another question for the subjects, when a light tapping of knuckles against wood brought both their attention towards the kitchen entrance.

"The door was open," Stefan said and gave Jenna a sweet smile. "I hope you don't mind me letting myself in? I knocked but …"

"No worries, Stefan," Jenna said and rose from her seat. She grabbed her coffee mug and turned her full attention toward Elena when she said: "I'm sure your head is just too full of tough males and fast cars that you couldn't possibly remember to wait until the door opens like you're supposed to." And with that she turned around and stormed into the dining room, disappearing from Elena's sight.

Elena just gaped after her. She couldn't believe Jenna, sweet and caring Jenna, had actually been rude to Stefan. She wasn't the type to be rude. And definitely not to Stefan, who never did anything to disrespect Jenna in any way.

Elena shook her head once and looked over to where her boyfriend stood.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I have no idea …" She trailed off, too chocked too even think of an apology.

Stefan just smiled and reached his hand out to her, beckoning her to him. Elena quickly closed the distance between them and grabbed his outstretched hand, inhaling his scent deeply as he pulled her to him in a soft embrace.

"I'm sure she's just worried about you," he said, pushing her back and looking into her eyes. "Are you okay?"

Elena gave him a weak smile, "I will be," she said, sighing. "I just need to get some answers."

"And we _will_," Stefan said. "I looked something up last night, and I think I found someone who can help us."

Elena's heart jumped, and she unconsciously tightened her hold on Stefan.

"You did! Who?" she exclaimed.

"A witch," Stefan said. "She knows a lot about the magical community, so I believe we at least can hope for some answers about Bonnie and this whole blood and amulet thing. But I believe she's also quite read on the doppelganger. She might know something that can help both you and Bonnie."

"That's amazing, Stefan! We have to go!"

Stefan grabbed her arm before she could hurry out of the kitchen.

"Wait!" he said. "It's not that easy. We have to think about this first."

"Think about what? If she knows something we have to talk to her!"

"And we will. We just have to find a way. She doesn't really … Well …" Stefan glanced down to the floor. "She doesn't exactly like me."

Elena stared at him.

"So what? What does it matter if she doesn't like you? Why wouldn't she help us?"

Stefan let go of Elena.

"Well …" he began, hesitantly. "It's not so much that she doesn't _like_ me, more in the line of … _hating _ me. Maybe she even despises me. I don't know."

Elena reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a light squeeze.

"Why?" she asked.

When Stefan met her eyes, she hated the sadness in them. She moved closer to him.

"Why does she hate you, Stefan? For what reason?"

Stefan sighed.

"I knew her before. Before I was like I am now. It's not something I want to talk about. Not with you. I don't want you do know me like that, Elena."

"Stefan–"

"No. Stop. Please don't make me tell you. I promise I will figure this out. I'll talk with Damon today and we'll both be there to meet you after school. I promise we will solve this."

Elena closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest.

"I don't know if I'll manage school today."

"It's better than to sit around and wait. Go to school. Try having some fun even and we'll come get you afterwards, okay?"

Elena didn't want to. She wanted to go with Stefan and talk to Damon. She wanted to be in on every part of this from now on. She wanted this all to be over and she wanted to be safe and she wanted Bonnie to not be in the hospital. She wanted peace.

But she knew she couldn't go with him right now. Whatever the reason was for this witch hating Stefan, she knew her presence would only delay a solution. If she was there when Stefan and Damon discussed, she would surely be an obstacle. If Stefan didn't want to tell her, she wouldn't force him to do so just by being beside him when he spoke about it.

And frankly … She didn't even _want_ to know. Whatever he had done to this woman must've been pretty bad if she was so reluctant against him.

"Okay," Elena sighed, opening her eyes and pulling back from him. He stroked her hair and leaned down to kiss her, before disappearing from the kitchen faster than humanly possible.

* * *

Her head ached. Her feet were numb. Her mind raced with images she couldn't remember ever seeing.

She felt lost.

She felt distant.

She felt dead.

Bonnie opened her eyes slowly and stared at the whiteness in front of her. She quickly realized it was a ceiling, and she forced her head to tip to the side, inspecting her surroundings.

Jeremy was there. Sleeping. His body was slumped down into a chair and his head tilted to the side, carelessly resting against his shoulder.

The window behind him was open, and Bonnie couldn't help but to smile as she watched the way the sun illuminated his face.

How had she never noticed this before? Noticed _him_?

A sudden pain in her head caused her to look away, squeeze her eyes closed and dry out in pain. A tingling sensation travelled though her fingers and disappeared out her fingertips. Something was burning her.

She screamed when she saw the flames erupting by her hands, and she tried to move away, but her body wouldn't let her. She was too weak.

"Oh my god!" Jeremy exclaimed, and before she knew it he'd pulled the cover off her and slammed it down over the flames, suffocating them. When he pulled them back again, revealing what was underneath – Bonnie gasped. There was no sign of a fire. The bed looked perfectly normal and her hands no longer burnt.

"What the hell was that?"

She looked at Jeremy. When her eyes met his, he moved towards her, bending down over her and placing a hand on her cheek.

"How are you?" he asked, concern deep within his voice.

"I think I overdid it," Bonnie said, trying to give him a smile but failing miserably.

"Overdid what?"

"The magic. I think it was too much. It felt like … Like I was breaking. Like _it_ was breaking. The magic. Like it was trying to remove itself from inside me. It hurt so much, Jeremy. I don't–"

"Don't think about it," he interrupted, soothingly stroking her shoulder. "Just get better, okay?"

Bonnie swallowed and closed her eyes again.

"Okay," she whispered.

Everything felt heavy around her. It didn't take long before she drifted off to sleep again.


End file.
